Written By: Margaret Kosiba
My bucket list for my Pleasure-Way Plateau TS road trips includes observing the sandhill cranes, preferably yearly. In early December I dry camped at Whitewater Draw near McNeal, AZ. Six or seven RV’s can boondock here (free) only 1 to 1.5 blocks from the water’s edge, for a maximum of 3 nights.
As many as 20,000 sandhill cranes migrate annually to this awesome desert spot and stay between October and early March. It has a safe waterway for the cranes to land adjacent to farmland. These cranes are flying south along the Central Flyway. Close to 600,000 to one million sandhill cranes land on the Platte River near Kearney, NE. Some continue to Mexico.
At sunrise, the cranes take off en masse to visit the nearby farmers’ fields to eat the grain that has dropped on the ground. After feeding, they start returning to Whitewater Draw between 11 am and 12 noon. Because it was 29-32 degrees early in the morning, I enjoyed making coffee and using hand warmers during my breaks!
The adult female and male cranes are almost identical, except the males are usually slightly larger. They mate for life, and only if one dies does the other search for another mate. They both reach a height of 3 to 4 feet and have a wingspan of five to six feet. They have red patches on their foreheads, long beaks, and white cheeks.
A crane couple usually has one or two eggs per breeding season, but usually only one survives. The colts are rusty brownish in color, and it takes 3-4 months to gain enough weight and strength to make the migratory trip, not to mention learning to fly and foraging for their own food. The immature colts begin traveling with their parents within 24 hours of hatching. Cranes can fly as far as 400 miles a day.
They don’t have to flap their wings constantly; they can coast on a thermal updraft and glide for long periods while they rest.
Cranes are known to live up to 20 years; it can take two years for the colts to reach maturity during which time they are learning 15-20 courtship dances from their parents. But some apparently do not mate until around age 7.
During the day or night, the sandhill cranes rest by standing on one leg while pulling their head and shoulders under their wings; a few close their eyes and don’t tuck their heads.Groups of cranes (sedges) have sentries appointed to stand guard against prey, like foxes, wolves, bobcats, raccoons, and coyotes. A specific warning bugle from the sentry will cause an immediate airborne sedge of cranes.
Other than fallen seeds in farmer’s fields, the cranes eat berries, seeds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, roots from aquatic plants, rodents, and snails. Their long beaks are a valuable asset.
What I treasure the most is the intricate communication system the cranes have developed. Fossils date them back 10 million years as among the oldest living birds known to mankind. But their distinctive bugling calls are fascinating, used to guide while flying, find their partners and colts, and to warn of impending danger from prey. I loved hearing them bugle all night while dry camping a block or two away! These sounds can be heard 2.5 miles away without visible evidence of the cranes.
While at Whitewater Draw, I met travelers from South America, Germany, Japan, and, of course, the U.S. One day I walked 10,000 steps along the trails at Whitewater Draw, but I enjoyed the most hearing the sandhill cranes bugle and dance.
I was also able to photograph gray herons, an ibis, and many varieties of wood ducks, all sharing the waterway and food sources with the sandhill cranes. It is truly a miracle of nature, one that should be observed repeatedly in order to truly appreciate the awesome lives of these sandhill cranes. They will absolutely bring joy to your hearts!
Margaret M. Kosiba